Recent Progress on EAST

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) was built to demonstrate high power, long pulse operation under fusion relevant conditions, and provide a viable platform for next-step steady-state magnetic confinement fusion development. Significant progress has been made in EAST on both technology and physics fronts, achieving full plasma current of 1 MA, long pulse operation over 400 s, entirely driven by Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD), and high confinement plasmas, i.e., H-modes, over 30 s with combined operation of LHCD and Ion Cyclotron Resonant Heating (ICRH). New and exciting physics with dominant RF heating has started to emerge, as evidenced by new findings on LHCD-induced 3D edge magnetic topology, new small Edge Localized Mode (ELM) regime and role of zonal flows during the L-H transition, etc. Various means for mitigating ELMs have also been explored to facilitate long pulse operation, including SMBI, D₂ pellet injection, as well as innovative solid Li granule injection. A brief overview of these recent advances is presented.